The Senegalese Entrepreneur Selling African Recipes To Americans

Tiossan is a return to a deeper version of my original dream. I wanted to bring more of my indigenous Senegalese culture to the U.S. market, both to share the gifts of our culture with the West and so that Senegalese would become more aware of the value of their own culture. I chose to start with skin care because I am personally a skin care junkie and because I had the highest respect for the healing secrets of our traditional healers and herbalists. After apprenticing with a renowned tradipractitioner, I brought the recipes to one of the best California green chemists to stabilize them for long shelf life on the U.S. market, and then scented the products with custom fragrances designed by a French artisanal perfumer and manufactured in Grasse, cradle of perfumery in France.

Tiossan has been described in some media as a high-end skincare products manufacturer. Define high-end. Must I be rich before I can afford Tiossano products for my girlfriend?

Our products are entirely affordable for people who really care about their skin. We use only the best natural and organic ingredients and avoid all damaging chemicals in our products. Women know that soft, healthy, beautiful skin is one of their most important assets, and it is not an area where they should skimp and risk damaging their skin with products that may create dryness, peeling, or long-term damage due to harmful chemicals. You want your girlfriend to have deliciously soft and healthy skin, don't you?

I’m just curious- where did the funding for Adina and Tiossano come from? Have you ever had to sell equity to external investors to raise capital for your business?

With Adina we started with friends and family, then went through several rounds of venture capital, ultimately raising more than $30 million. But outside capital also dilutes the owner's stake. As a consequence, I chose to keep Tiossan very tightly controlled, which means that I've mostly self-funded Tiossan along with a few carefully selected outside investors who are deeply committed to the Tiossan vision.

In total, how many employees do you have?

I'm not up to date with Adina, but our biggest impact in Africa was through the creation of an organic hibiscus industry in Senegal. The hibiscus industry was slowly dying in Senegal when we started, then with the help of ASNAPP and the First Lady of Senegal, we taught women to grow world-class certified organic hibiscus. Today the organic hibiscus growers of Senegal sell their product around the world and thousands of women have jobs they would otherwise have lost.

With Tiossan I'm just getting started and at present everyone who works with the company is a contractor working on setting up the systems.

What are your expansion plans? Tiossan products are sold at major retailers in the United States, but I haven’t seen any of your products here in Africa. Don’t you think it’ll make a lot of economic sense to sell your products in Africa?

Because margins are higher in the U.S. and large-scale distribution is easier, I intend to build Tiossan here first. In addition, the U.S. is the best place in the world to build a brand. Once a brand becomes successful here, it is possible to sell it around the world. I intend to distribute in Africa, but first I must build a stronger base here in the U.S..